Sport

17 February 2015

An entry in the Crocodile Prize PNG Chamber of Mines & Petroleum Award for Essays and Journalism

WHEN it came to government spending in 2014, although there was the usual substantial investment by the Papua New Guinea government in education, rural development and other sectors, sport was definitely the winner.

Two of the highest achieving sports in 2014 were Australian Rules football and cricket. Many players in both codes also performed well domestically and abroad. Rugby league, and especially the PNG Hunters, were not far behind.

10 November 2014

VANI Morea slammed the second ball of the final over of the chase to the midwicket boundary to confirm Papua New Guinea's second victory over Hong King this weekend.

It made PNG the first team to win their first two ODIs and sparked emotional scenes - their captain Chris Amini choked back tears as he spoke after the win, while the team joyously belted out a victory song.

The chase of 262 had been guided by No 3 Lega Siaka (pictured), who scored his country's first ODI century. In the 42nd over, however, he thumped the ball towards long-on, and though Morea was always keen for the second, Siaka seemed less enthusiastic and was run out at the keeper's end.

As the Papua New Guinea captain struggled to fight back tears (pictured) in an on-camera interview following Papua New Guinea's two-match maiden ODI series sweep over Hong Kong, his emotions conveyed what a historic moment this was in the island nation's rich but relatively little-known cricket history.

PNG didn't arrive on this stage overnight. As Tim Wigmore and Gideon Haigh have detailed, painstaking efforts have been made on and off the field over the last several years to get PNG to Tony Ireland Stadium in Townsville.

Former Australia international Andy Bichel played a central role in that. Back in 2011, he told ESPNcricinfo about the amount of pride he had in helping to change the culture of cricket in Papua New Guinea as director of cricket.

27 September 2014

TOURISM Minister Boka Kondra has called on the University of Papua New Guinea, the Tourism Promotion Authority, PNG National Events Council and Pacific Games 2015 Limited to research the cascade effects of the 2015 Pacific Games on the PNG tourism sector.

Mr Kondra was keynote speaker at the Eighth Tourism Conference organised by UPNG’s School of Business Administration.

“Papua New Guinea stands apart in history as the three-times host of the Pacific Games - in 1969, 1991 and soon in 2015”, he said.

“Three thousand athletes, 500 team officials, and 1,000 technical officials and dignitaries from 21 neighbouring countries will converge upon Port Moresby for the Games.

03 August 2014

ALEX Mitchell was one of a group of volunteers at the London Olympics so moved by the standard of the kit of some para-athletes that they decided to set up a charity, Kit Us Out, to help those athletes at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

"Kit should not be a barrier for people to do their very best within competition," Mr Mitchell said.

"We want to provide these para-athletes with the very best opportunity to hit personal bests, to win medals and to inspire the next generation of young para-athletes."

Team PNG are among the beneficiaries, receiving shoes, socks and three wheelchairs.

02 August 2014

NEWS that Fiji is currently bidding to take part in the 2016 NSW Cup, headed by the one and only Petero Civoniceva, coupled with the current success of the Papua New Guinea Hunters in their first season in the Queensland Cup, poses an interesting question.

How long will it be until a Pacific island nation is included in Australia’s National Rugby League?

None of the four major codes has branched out into the Pacific at national level. Internationally it is a different story, but whichever code takes the initiative will be paid back tenfold.

This episode takes place in New Britian - mostly around Kimbe and Rabaul - and along the way Robson digs up some Megapode eggs from the Mt Tavurvur volcano, fishes with village fishermen in the PNG traditional way, fails to catch a big Papuan Bass, loses a couple of Marlin, but does catch some interesting sea creatures, including a giant goldfish weighing 40 pounds, and another fierce looking creature no-one can identify.

Big game fishing has been on the go in PNG for years, although not many westerners are aware that these are some of the most pristine and productive fishing grounds in the world.

13 March 2014

AFTER Ifiso Segeyaro was held up at gunpoint during a bank robbery in Papua New Guinea in the 1990s, he realised his country could not provide his family with the life he wanted for them.

Ifiso was something of a legend in PNG – he even went head-to-head with Mal Meninga in a Test match for the Kumuls in 1982. But he could do little to protect his family in a country with dangerously high levels of crime and violence.

His son James, only six years old at the time, left PNG with his mother, three sisters and one of his two brothers to find safety in Cairns.

12 March 2014

It was a first for Australia’s Intrust Super rugby league cup last weekend when the PNG Hunters hosted their maiden game at Kalabond Oval in Kokopo, defeating the Mackay (Queensland) Cutters 24-16. Cutters CEO GLENN OTTAWAY explains that it was an experience his team members will never forget.

THE first weekend of March will forever be remembered by the young Mackay Cutters squad that travelled to Papua New Guinea as part of the Intrust Super Cup round two fixture.

Players boarded a charter flight in Mackay on Friday morning for Cairns. On clearing Customs they reboarded the plane for the direct flight to Rabaul.

20 January 2014

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’S GIANT-KILLING acts in the World Cup qualifying tournament has made many in the cricketing world stand up and take notice but the most renowned figure in their dressing room, former England wicketkeeper Geraint Jones, is not a bit surprised.

Having beaten former World Cup semi-finalists Kenya and Uganda, PNG now remain strong contenders for a spot in the tournament which will be held in Australia and New Zealand.

The Australian-bred wicketkeeper, like many of the players in the current line up, migrated to England in his teens and later went on to become a vital cog in England’s 2005 Ashes win. Jones is now playing for PNG, the place of his birth.

07 December 2013

IT WAS 34 YEARS AGO that Brad Tassell got a first-hand insight into the type of rugby league talent to be found throughout Papua New Guinea.

Tassell and his Cairns under-12 teammates were in PNG on their club's biennial trip and were confronted by "5,000 screaming fans against the biggest under-12s I'd ever seen in my life. They ran out onto the field with bald heads and moustaches so we knew we were in trouble," Tassell recalls.

Tassell's association with the game in PNG took on a more formal capacity a decade ago and, as the current CEO of PNG Rugby League, he takes great pride in a side from the island nation being admitted into the Intrust Super Cup from 2014.

17 November 2013

THE BARRAMUNDIS SCORED a comfortable win in the world 20/20 cricket qualifier against the Netherlands overnight after a quickfire century by Tony Ura (pictured) took them to a commanding 3 for 193 off their 20 overs.

The rated Netherlands, who once famously defeated England A in the longer form of the game, could manage only 141 in reply, falling short by 52 runs.

Ura scored an even century off 80 balls and was ably assisted by Kila Pala who scored 57 off 47.

Nineteen year old quick bowling find Norman Vanua then made short work of the Netherlands top order with 3/12 to leave the Dutch in disarray.

The Papua New Guinea team continue to make an impressive start to this tournament, which could stamp them as an emerging force in world cricket.

16 November 2013

THE LAST TIME Papua New Guinea played Kenya was the 1990 ICC Trophy in the Netherlands. Papua New Guinea were winners that day, but since then Kenya had gone on to much brighter things.

But these days Kenya are on a decline, and Papua New Guinea are one of the rising stars of the associate world. But even so, the win today - especially the manner in which it happened - was a surprising one.

10 November 2013

THE MAIN ROAD through Hanuabada village on the outskirts of Port Moresby is really the only open space among the thousands of wooden huts with their rusted iron roofs.

So it stands to reason that cricket must be played right there in the middle of the main street. After all, with its rock-hard clay surface, it makes an ideal year-round pitch. The bounce is even and the outfield fast: very fast.

Former national captain Rarua Dikana still plays regularly in the village, always to a hero's welcome. "Cricket," he says, "is a way of life here. The kids love it when me and some of the others from national teams go home and join in a game. We always play on the main road and just ignore the cars."

04 November 2013

IT’S BEEN JUST OVER A WEEK since Welsh legend Gareth Thomas kicked off the tournament by beating 500 dancers to dive under the posts, but already two nations face must-win matches to keep their World Cup dreams alive.

Papua New Guinea’s hopes of advancing past the group stages took a major blow when they blew a winnable game against France 9-8 last week, while Toa Samoa slept through the opening 20 minutes of their 42-24 defeat to group favourites New Zealand.

In one of the quirks of the draw, only the fourth (and last) team in Group B misses out on a quarter final berth, meaning one of these two teams are all but out of the tournament should they lose their second game in a row.

29 October 2013

PAPUA NEW GUINEA IS KNOWN as the only country in the world to have rugby league as its national sport.

Rugby league means more than money. It’s about pride, about clansmanship, about identity and, most importantly, it defines the passion of a thousand traditions.

Papua New Guineans love rugby league. The magnitude of their love of the sport can be measured by a paradoxical metric: property that has been destroyed and spectator violence that has brought this sport to the brink of a law and order crisis.

27 October 2013

RUGBY LEAGUE IS PAPUA NEW GUINEA's national sport and the Kumuls will be keen to get their World Cup campaign off to the right start against France.

They've been starved of World Cup success of late after being cruelly drawn in a group against powerhouses Australia, New Zealand and England in the 2008 tournament. Their best performance at a Cup came eight years earlier when the Kumuls advanced to the quarter-finals after going through their group undefeated.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA AND FRANCE square off in the opening Pool B clash of the World Cup.

Both have been stalwarts of international rugby league for many decades, the two teams who have typically been at the level below the big three but who have enjoyed a deep love of the game.

Both will consider anything less than a quarter final berth disappointing and with this the likely one winnable match for either team, both will be targeting this clash as the defining one of the 2013 campaign.

IN A MOVE which will no doubt buoy all involved in Papua New Guinea rugby league, the Queensland Rugby League has granted the fanatical rugby league nation a license to compete in the 2014 Intrust Super Cup (formerly the Queensland Cup).

In addition to this, Papua New Guinea will also field Under 16s and Under 18s sides in the QRL’s elite junior competitions.

The only country in the world that lists rugby league as its national sport, PNG is an area of largely untapped incredible potential for our code.

21 September 2013

ADAM EVERILL’S NEVER-GIVE-UP ATTITUDE set him on the right track to start Rugby League Against Violence, a not for profit organisation that has gone from strength to strength since starting in 2011.

The father of two children under four, who also works full time as a partnership broker for The Smith Family in Wollongong, Adam leads the organisation that works with violence-affected communities in Papua New Guinea and Australia.

“It was really hard going at the beginning, I was a one man band until only recently when it started to kick off at the end of last year,” Everill said.

01 August 2013

THEY MAY HAVE HAD to abandon the breast-shaped boobsled but it was replaced with a stalking croc and 4m shark when a group of ambitious kite surfers crossed the ocean to Papua New Guinea to raise $70,000 for charity recently.

25 June 2013

IF THERE WAS ANYTHING AUSTRALIAN that makes Papua New Guinea go mad then it is the State of Origin rugby league game.

While State of Origin is entertainment, fame and money for Australians, here in PNG it is obsession and fanaticism.

No other sporting event has such a fanatical following. The whole nation goes bananas about the tri-series annual contest that pits the Queensland Maroon boys against the Blue boys from the New South Wales.

The Blues and Maroons culture is growing and spreading even into the remotest communities of PNG.

Children as young as one or two years old are indoctrinated into the Blues and Maroons tribes by their parents. Birthday presents are Blues and Maroons souvenirs.

11 March 2013

I PLAYED SEMI-PROFESSIONAL rugby league in Papua New Guinea for more than a decade. And I was 20 years in the game overall.

I had the privilege of playing for the Kundiawa Warriors, Port Moresby Vipers and the Brian Bell Bulldogs.

Unfortunately, despite many years of intercity football, I played in only one grand final - the SP Intercity Cup against Rabaul Gurias in 2005.

At the club level I played for close to two decades and ran on in five grand finals: four in the Port Moresby Rugby League and one in the Kundiawa Rugby League.

I hung up my boots after that Gurias-Bulldogs grand final in 2005 and all I got from PNG rugby league after two decades were scars, a broken cartilage and a farewell spiel from the commentator at the final whistle.

That was it; no money, no pay cheque; not even any statistics kept of how many games I played.

16 February 2013

PAPUA NEW GUINEA hooker Paul Aiton has issued a rallying call to the people of Hull, England.

It came ahead of the Kumuls’ clashes in the Rugby League World Cup later this year.

The matches will be played at Craven Park, home to Super League outfit Hull Kingston Rovers, with which Stanley Gene built a famous career in the UK following his strong performances for PNG at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

Aiton hopes to utilise the PNG’s links to the city of Hull to mobilise a partisan crowd to get behind PNG at RLWC2013.

“We have the link with Stanley and Makali [Aizue] having played over there, and both players still have a great following over in Hull,” Aiton told LoveRugbyLeague.com.

“I really hope we can rally the support of the Hull KR fans at the tournament. We’re based over in Hull and I know Stanley feels a great love for the city.

“He played for Hull KR and Hull FC, and I hope we can get supporters from both sides of the divide down at Craven Park for the games.

“In return, I’d like to think that people will enjoy the way we play and the passion we show whenever we pull on the shirt of our nation.

“We play hard, we play expansive footy and we like to entertain the fans.”

Aiton also believes that RLWC2013 could help uncover the next big star from PNG, 18 years after Gene made his mark on British soil.

“Not too many players have been picked up. I’ve been involved with the Kumuls for a lot of years now and I’ve played alongside some very talented young players,” he said.

“I’m very surprised that so many haven’t been given a chance. I don’t know if they are undiscovered, or that clubs just don’t want to take the chance.

“But I definitely think we could unearth another Stanley Gene at RLWC2013. There are a lot of players who could make it over here.

“I’ve found the Super League very welcoming and I’m sure there’ll be some perfect match-ups between British clubs and PNG players looking for an opportunity.

“Stanley’s obviously enjoyed his stay, and he’s enjoyed a fantastic career with a few clubs, and I can see no reason why another PNG player can’t follow in his footsteps.

While Aiton is hoping to depend on vociferous backing from the terraces at RLWC2013, he knows for sure the Kumuls can also count on PNG’s fanatical rugby league fan base back home.

“There’ll be so many tuning into watch the games on TV, and I can tell you that the stories people hear about how fanatical the fans can be are completely true,” said Aiton.

“Rugby league is the number one sport in PNG and we want to do our nation proud at Rugby League World Cup 2013. We can’t wait for the challenge.”

Papua New Guinea face France at Craven Park on 27 October and return to the venue on 4 November when Samoa provide the opposition.

The Kumuls’ group campaign culminates on 8 November, when they travel to Headingley to take on defending champions New Zealand.

11 February 2013

BOASTING A PROP NAMED Loko and a back-rower called Mexico the Papuan New Guinea Residents sounded as though they could be a bunch of tough hombres, and on Saturday the pair played their part to ensure Souths' annual return to Redfern Oval was a bone-rattling occasion.

With their co-owner Hollywood actor Russell Crowe watching proceedings from high in the stand, the Rabbitohs won the encounter 38-12 – but they suffered a few bruises along the way

Mark Mexico nailed Souths forward Dave Tyrrell when he returned the kick-off for the second quarter like a cannonball.

The Souths faithful, and there were a few thousand of them, screamed “shoulder charge” to the referee as Tyrrell was presumably asked by his team's trainer what planet he was on.

He rallied a few minutes later when he dragged three defenders across the line to allow the Rabbitohs to level the scores 12-12 after they went into the first quarter a surprising six points behind the visitors.

If any Souths player pulled his boots on thinking the trial against the Papua New Guineans was going to be a walk in a park, they were rudely enlightened by the men from Port Moresby, Lae and the Highlands.

They were subjected to some fierce hits, and it was a collective and committed effort in defence from the resident Kumuls. Time after time in the first half they repelled numerous Rabbitohs raids with scrambling defence.

Their try-saving feats were assisted, to a degree, by the Souths attack, which failed to keep the ball alive out wide when there were tries begging.

There were plenty of players trying to make things happen, including halfback Luke Keary, a former Australian rugby union schoolboy representative who starred in last year's Souths under-20 side.

His halves partner, Jason Hunt, played some clever and skilful football and sparked some exciting raids. Hooker Apisai Koroisau, who is behind Isaac Luke and Nathan Peats, was another to make the most of his opportunity in the top team.

The Papua New Guineans were as keen to impress. Enoch Maki unceremoniously up-ended George Burgess; his brother

Thomas was given a tough welcome to Souths when, as the fourth member of the Burgess clan from England to play for Souths, he was dragged down by a few defenders while making some mighty runs.

The visitors displayed some flamboyance to complement their toughness and the pick of them was their No 7, Israel Eliab, a 22-year-old with a promising future. He scored two tries in the opening 20 minutes, the most exciting of the pair a 70 metre intercept try.

They didn't get a look in from there. Souths, who played the game in a good spirit, seized control of the game on the back of tries to Jason Clark, who bagged a double, Tyrell, Ben Lowe, Aaron Gray and Bennett Leslie.

23 January 2013

THE KONE TIGERS CLUB and its oval was made famous by players like Clarrie Burke, John Kaputin, Bill O’Brien, Sean Dorney, Hugh Davis, Dadi Mahuru Toka and many other tough rugby league players.

John Kaputin played for the famous club in the days when rugby league was just starting to emerge as a national sport in Papua New Guinea and was still mostly played by white men.

Kaputin helped win the 1960’s grand final between the Kone Tigers and DCA played at the Papuan Rugby League ground near Boroko.

In the years that followed, the Kone Tigers Oval evolved into a modern rugby league ground with a club house, high wall fencing and polished green grass in the paddock. It was on an equal footing with the Boroko ground.

The Kone Tigers club was the glamour team and proud owner of the oval. In later years international and semi-professional inter-city cup matches were played there.

Then, on the threshold of the 21st century, the famous oval started to fall into disrepair. Wreckers were appointed to run the club and its assets. Gradually all the corrugated iron fencing was ripped down, the club house fell apart and scrub crept into the paddock.

The kleptomaniacs who managed the club saw fit to sell the oval to some Asians.

The legality of the sale has been contested in court but no one has any idea about the outcome.

Right now the once famous Kone Tigers Oval is a sex workers’ and drug addicts’ den.

It is also a public toilet used by street vendors and others who do petty business at the Waigani market. Every Tom, Dick and Harry now goes to the paddock and squats anywhere in the scrub to answer the call of nature.

The rain tree at the western end of the oval has been taken over by drug addicts. They congregate to smoke marijuana, drink ‘coffee punch’ (cheap liquor), watch pornography on mobile phones and intermittently walk to the eastern end of the oval to watch sex workers and their clients copulating (see photo).

Outside the western end of the oval is the large Waigani Market. The area between the oval and the market is used by 3,000 people every day for petty business.

While the market caters for people who sell garden produce the intervening area is used by the people who sell cordial, scones, hot dogs, Asian junk, betel nut and cigarettes.

There they do business under the scorching sun with the stench of the Waigani sewer in their nostrils.

When nature calls, they wander off to the Kone Tigers Oval. Likewise when lust calls they communicate through their mobile phones and meet up at the eastern end of the oval.

09 December 2012

A RUGBY LEAGUE LEGEND has set up a charitable foundation to tackle deprivation in his native Papua New Guinea.

The Stanley Gene Foundation aims to collect donations of clothes, books, furniture and shoes to help people in PNG.

The former Hull Kingston Rovers and Hull Football Club player has already paid for electricity and running water for his local village as well as building schools.

Now he wants the donations to help equip the schools and hospitals.

Stanley said: "The people of the Hull area have been tremendous.

"For many years, I have been sending things over to Papua New Guinea but now I have decided to set up a charity and do it properly."

A container full of items has been sent over and is expected to arrive just after Christmas. Gene hopes to send another one early next year.

Stanley, who has just returned from a trip to PNG, said: "It is great to see people's smiles when they get the gifts.

"In the hospitals, there was nothing for people to do apart from listen to a radio. In some schools, there are no chairs so the kids have to learn on the floor. For people in the mountains, some of the kids don't even have any clothes," he said.

23 October 2012

CRICKETERS IN THE QUEENSLAND town of Toowoomba got a special treat on Sunday when Peter Anderson and his team of Papua New Guinean cricketers turned up for their first representative game in the Garden City.

According to Mr Anderson, Toowoomba might well be seeing a bit more of the cricketers now they are playing as part of the Queensland Webb Shield series for the first time.

He said the entire team grew up in circumstances fairly unimaginable to most of us pampered Aussies and their enthusiasm was an inspiration.

And if local cricket enthusiasts get a chance to see the team in action, he recommends they take it.

"Nearly all of these players came from the same village in PNG, a third world country where 20 people will live in a little hut," Mr Anderson said.

"They're a fantastic, well-mannered and humble group of people and they have so much passion.

"They just love the game and I don't over-coach them.

"There are three or four who are easily world-class."

He said the enthusiastic group has been following a gruelling schedule and in the past week have played two 50-over games and two T-20 matches.

The Broughtons have filed for damages in the Southport District Court and are calling for a jury trial, claiming Bai made accusations of financial misconduct through a News Limited story earlier this year.

Bai and the Broughtons formerly worked together on the PNG NRL licence bid team but Bai quit in 2009 fearing millions in government funding was being wasted on a futile bid.

Earlier this year Bai publicly called for the PNG government to launch an inquiry into allegations the PNG bid consortium, led by the Broughtons, squandered almost K8 million kina K20 million kina in government money in an attempt to clinch the next NRL licence.

The Broughtons quit in 2010 and the PNG bid team is being led by former Roosters and Cowboys player Brad Tassell.

Mr and Mrs Broughton are suing Bai for $250,000 and $240,000 in damages, claiming his comments cost them lucrative business deals and damaged their reputations.

Bai, the former Gold Coast winger who won a premiership with Melbourne, said he was "surprised" the Broughtons were suing but he would take it up with his lawyer.

In court documents, Mr Broughton, 82, said Bai's comments had led to his sudden retirement in March from his $4,166.66 a month position as honorary chairman for his beloved Titans.

However he told the media at the time he was retiring due to the club's financial problems. "I see myself as part of the system that hasn't really worked," he told the Bulletin in March.

"They need someone in there who is capable of rescuing them. I've done the best I can."

He claims he lost $87,500 as a result of ending the contract which was due to end in December 2013.

The claim also states Bai's comments cost Mr Broughton an $18,000 contract with the Central Queensland NRL licence bid team and a $60,000 sale contract for their joint travel agency, Nitto Australia trading as Events Travel, the official travel agent for the Titans.

Mr Broughton is also claiming Bai's comments will impact the sales of his forthcoming biography "based on the life of (Mr Broughton's) integrity throughout his work in rugby league and business more widely".

The documents, filed by Hickey Lawyers, claim the comments have made the Broughtons' business opportunities in PNG untenable and they no longer feel safe to travel there.

Mr Broughton could not be contacted yesterday and his lawyers declined to comment.

27 August 2012

WITH THE 2012 SUMMER PARALYMPICS starting this week, Papua New Guinea's Paralympic delegation has arrived in London to support the two athletes who qualified for the Games, athletics competitor Francis Kompaon [pictured] and powerlifter Timothy Harabe.

The Games are Kompaon's second, having competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics where he earned his country's first Paralympic medal when he finished second in the 100 metre event.

Harabe, only the tenth person ever to represent PNG at the Games, is making his Paralympic Games debut.

The British High Commissioner to PNG, Jackie Barson MBE, wished both athletes well.

"It is a fantastic achievement for PNG to be represented by two world class Paralympic athletes,” he said.

PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan congratulated his country's athletes, saying, "They will be great ambassadors for PNG and I hope both Francis and Timothy will inspire other athletes to train hard."

The 2012 Games will be the fourth time PNG has participated, with three other appearances in 1984, 2000 and 2008.

Other members of the Papua New Guinea 2012 Paralympic delegation include PNG Paralympic Committee President Bernard Chan; Chef de Mission Dr Kefu Ma; team manager Rosemary Mawe; Davina Chan, the president's wife; coach William McKenny; and official Jeffrey Robby.

PAPUA NEW GUINEA’s new sports minister Justin Tkatchenko says the state of rugby league in the country is an absolute disaster and needs an overhaul.

The annual meeting of the national rugby league federation was meant to have been held last November but infighting and court battles delayed proceedings, leaving the sport in a state of limbo.

Mr Tkatchenko has met with the International Rugby League Federation and local officials in the past week to discuss a way forward.

He says the game has turned into a legal fighting match and it’s the people of PNG who are suffering.

“I think there’s some areas that we need to take control of this and one of those will be to introduce some legislation for the government to take control of the running of rugby league,” he said.

“It seems that no one can make a decision or get their act together for the people of PNG. As this is their number one sport we must make sure it works and at the moment it’s not working.”

The PNG government has injected K1 million into rugby league, which will primarily pay for next month’s clash against the Australian prime minister’s team.

Tas Batieri from the Rugby League International Federation says the governing body is supportive of the PNG government’s plans.

He says a lot needs to be done ahead of next year’s World Cup, such as drafting a new constitution.

“It’s not something that we’re going to solve overnight. It will take the best part of 15 months, I believe, to do it properly so we don’t have a repeat of the dramas we’ve had over the last three year.”

19 August 2012

A STRONG RUGBY UNION CULTURE was well established in PNG prior to Independence in 1975 with the Australian Army well represented in local and area teams as well as in coaching and referee roles.

It is generally believed that rugby football came to Australia and New Zealand from the early 1880s, as elite young men returned from studying at English public schools.

By the beginning of the 20th century, the game had spread beyond the British Empire and gained acceptance worldwide.

Following World War I, a five nations competition commenced. In the southern hemisphere, the New Zealand Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, donated a trophy for matches between Australia and New Zealand.

Soon after, Fiji, Tonga and Samoa embraced the game.

Following World War II, the five nations competition resumed with France joining a newly constituted game with revised rules.

With such international interest in rugby, and the game played in schools, universities and military establishments worldwide, it was no surprise that the game was eventually imported into PNG.

Initially it was played by expatriates based in the armed services but local players soon found themselves drafted into the game.

As time went by and the expats went home, so the game became nationalised. Competitions between rival services spread through PNG and, at some stage, a Commander’s Cup competition was established.

So it was that in August last year, six Papua New Guinea Defence Force rugby union teams competed in the Commander’s Cup – still going strong - with more than 200 soldiers and servicemen taking to the field at Goldie River.

The teams were from first battalion Taurama Barracks, second battalion Moem Barracks, Lae’s Igam Barracks made up predominately of engineers, Murray Barracks headquarters and support battalion, a maritime team of naval officers, and a Goldie/Air Transport Squadron XV.

The road from Port Moresby to Goldie River is hard, rutted and unforgiving, the occasional crater threatening to engulf even the local community bus. The dust is like fine talcum powder.

When we arrive, the Goldie River training ground displays brilliant green grass and a playing surface as hard as a rock: excellent for running and kicking, but woe betide the person who is tackled. Limbs ache and bones crunch as they experience the granite like surface.

1RPIR vs. Navy. The game ebbs and flows. Scores remain locked for most of the match. Spectators talk amongst themselves or purchase items of food from the myriad of stalls selling drinks, fruit and other small items.

Meanwhile players have one eye on the ball and the other on the rock like ground, so much so that the attacking or defensive formations often break apart and the ball dribbles aimlessly in no particular direction.

02 August 2012

SENIOR PAPUA NEW GUINEA government official Jack Kariko has been appointed as a member of the newly-established FIFA Ethics Committee adjudicatory chamber.

Kariko’s appointment was submitted and endorsed by Papua New Guinea Football Association (PNGFA) president David Chung and confirmed by FIFA President Joseph (Sep) Blatter during the 62nd FIFA Congress in Budapest, Hungary.

"It is a great honour to be part of the game on the world stage," Kariko said.

"To have an input into its governance is special, not just for me but for the recognition of the country."

Kariko, deputy secretary of the Department of Justice and Attorney-General, joins other Papua New Guineans in holding a position with one of FIFA's range of committees.

Chung is a FIFA vice-president and chairman of the Organising Committee for the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

Other Papua New Guineans on FIFA committees are John Kapi Natto (Organising Committee for the FIFA Club World Cup), Linda Wonuhali (Committee for Women's Football and the FIFA Women's World Cup) and lawyer Daniel Kakaraya (Appeal Committee).

Chung says Kariko is an ideal person for the role as he has vast experience in international law.

“His experience is important to FIFA and they need independent people to show transparency,” he says.

The 34-year-old provides legal advice on international law matters for the PNG government and his new role with the FIFA Ethics Committee will see him helping to implement the governing body's Code of Ethics.

The Ethics Committee, which is divided into an investigatory chamber and an adjudicatory chamber, is responsible for FIFA's investigation and decision-making in areas of the game such as bribery and corruption.

Kariko's other interest is rugby union and he is vice-president of the Motuan Warriors club, who take part in the Port Moresby competition.